Comment on One of my favorite 3D printed organizations. Custom silverware drawer
bob_wiley@lemmy.world 9 months agoThat’s resin printing that you need good ventilation for. I think there are some that are safer than others but for fdm which is the melting plastic and extruding it in lines there is no issue being indoors.
You can also make enclosures for them though so they are isolated
It’s very much not something you can just use like a printer. It’s a hobby in and of itself
I have two Ender 3’s and they are good printers. It can take some tweaking to get things to print right but it has been a good printer for the stuff I’ve printed. Once you get your settings right most print jobs print without issue. It’s an easy hobby to get into without going broke and with some patients you can print lots of stuff for the house. I’ve print coat hooks and a hook to go over my shower door to hold a towel so I no longer have to get my towel wet. We’ve also printed party favors for kids birthdays. Also finding stuff to print has never been an issue lots of stuff is free and the files that do cost are always super cheap. Most of the stuff we bought was 1-3 dollars and you can print it as many times as you want so TCO is really low.
seathru@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Old article but I’m sure the science hasn’t changed: hackaday.com/…/3d-printing-fumes-new-science/
Basically, if you are printing with PLA you are probably pretty safe. But I still don’t think I would sit in a tiny closet and hotbox with my printer. An open window or carbon filters on your HVAC are probably more than sufficient. And PLA is the most popular type of filament, so you aren’t limited much there. Unless you need higher temperature parts to withstand sun or car interiors. Then you are getting into materials you want to start looking into better ventilation for.
Fogle@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
Even that, I’ve got a center console organizer in my car made of pla and it hasn’t deformed at all. So as long as it’s not in the direct sunlight
canthidium@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Yeah, I mostly print PLA, and occasional PETG. My printers are in enclosures as well and while I don’t have any dedicated ventellation system, they are by a window that has a fan blowing outside. I’m not too worried about it.